Here’s to what I’ve been entertained by this past week (11/8-11/15)

I will now proceed to review what I have recently seen, heard and read. And I will arbitrarily give each item reviewed some “points.” You may do with these points as you like.

Movie: Flushed Away on DVD. My take: I rented Flushed Away last Friday because my 3 year old daughter, Abby and I had a date night. We grabbed some McDonald’s, plopped ourselves down in the living room and we had a pretty cool time. I thought the voice acting in the movie was great. Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen, especially. The animation was slick but nothing overly captivating. And the humor that was splattered around in the film for the adult viewers was usually pretty funny. There were some quirky things that I really dug, and Abby loves it when animated animals fall down, or say things in loud strange voices. Abby would probably give the movie 9 out of 10 points, but she is not the distinguished film critic that her father is. I would probably say something more like 7 out of 10. I have decided to average out our hypothetical scores. Therefore, 8 out of 10 points have been given.

Music: The Remedy Tour with The Myriad, Phil Wickham and The David Crowder* Band. My take: Easily the second coolest concert I’ve ever been to. The downside to that bit of glowing praise is that I’ve only been to a handful of concerts. Tuesday, I took my wife to Raleigh for the day; we visited a couple of museums, a shopping mall, and a fine dining establishment (Chili’s), and then in the evening we went downtown for the concert. I would definitely have given the concert a 10 out of 10, had it not been for the opening act. The Myriad was lame, in my humble opinion. I guess they’re gaining a fan base, and I guess they’re one of the Christian bands of the future or whatever. But I thought they were lame. Their music was ragged, their songs were indecipherable, and their stage presence was awkward at best. Phil Wickham was another story altogether, though. He did a set of 4 or 5 worship songs, one of which I’ll post the lyrics for in a later entry. It was just him and his guitar, but he did a great job holding the crowd (who were obviously there for David Crowder), and he did an even better job of magnifying the name of God. Very good stuff. But of course, the David Crowder* Band was the reason we bought the tickets, and they did not disappoint. They did an amazing number of songs in the hour and a half that they performed. My personal favorites included: O Praise Him, Can You Feel It, foreverandeverandever etc., Remedy, and You Never Let Go. If you are even a marginal fan of The David Crowder* Band and you have the chance to see them live, do it. You won’t be disappointed. Actually I think I will give the concert 10 points. Why, you ask? Because on three of the songs—You Never Let Go, Remedy, and Surely We Can Change—the music was soft enough for me to hear my wife singing to God. And my wife has a voice and a life that sing to her Savior. And there isn’t much in this life that I find cooler than that. Therefore, 10 out of 10 points have been given.